I bow me to the threatening gale: "BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF YEARS" From "Atalanta in Calydon" BEFORE the beginning of years, There came to the making of man Time, with a gift of tears; Grief, with a glass that ran; Pleasure, with pain for leaven; And life, the shadow of death. And the high gods took in hand Fire, and the falling of tears, From under the feet of the years; And froth and drift of the sea; And dust of the laboring earth; And bodies of things to be In the houses of death and of birth; And fashioned with loathing and love, With life before and after, And death beneath and above, For a day and a night and a morrow, That his strength might endure for a span, With travail and heavy sorrow, The holy spirit of man. Man From the winds of the north and the south They gathered as unto strife; They filled his body with life; A time to serve and to sin; And love, and a space for delight, And night, and sieep in the night. In his heart is a blind desire, In his eyes foreknowledge of death; Sows, and he shall not reap; His life is a watch or a vision Between a sleep and a sleep. 355 Algernon Charles Swinburne [1837-1909] MAN WEIGHING the steadfastness and state Of some mean things which here below reside, Where bees at night get home and hive, and flowers, Rise with the sun, and set in the same bowers; I would, said I, my God would give And no new business breaks their peace; Yet Solomon was never dressed so fine. Man hath still either toys, or care; He hath no root, nor to one place is tied, About this earth doth run and ride; He knows he hath a home, but scarce knows where; He says it is so far, That he hath quite forgot how to go there. He knocks at all doors, strays and roams; Nay, hath not so much wit as some stones have, God ordered motion, but ordained no rest. Henry Vaughan [1622–1695] THE PULLEY WHEN God at first made Man, Having a glass of blessings standing by- So strength first made a way, Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honor, pleasure: For if I should (said He) Bestow this jewel also on My creature, Yet let him keep the rest, But keep them with repining restlessness; George Herbert [1593-1633] Ode on the Intimations of Immortality 357 ODE ON THE INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY FROM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD I THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream, Apparelled in celestial light, The glory and the freshness of a dream. By night or day, The things which I have seen I now can see no more. II The Rainbow comes and goes, And lovely is the Rose; The Moon doth with delight Look round her when the heavens are bare; Waters on a starry night Are beautiful and fair; The sunshine is a glorious birth; But yet I know, where'er I go, That there hath passed away a glory from the earth. III Now, while the Birds thus sing a joyous song, As to the tabor's sound, To me alone there came a thought of grief: The Cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep: And all the earth is gay; Land and Sea Give themselves up to jollity, And with the heart of May Doth every Beast keep holiday; Thou Child of Joy, Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy Shepherd-boy! IV Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee; My head hath its coronal, The fulness of your bliss, I feel-I feel it all. While Earth herself is adorning This sweet May morning, And the Children are culling On every side, In a thousand valleys far and wide, Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm, -But there's a Tree, of many, one, A single Field which I have looked upon, Doth the same tale repeat: Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and the dream? V Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, And cometh from afar: |